Angel's Grace
by Thalico RULZ
Summary: Thalia and Nico are complete enemies. Beyond hate. But they're hiding a secret of their past, which they only realize later. Can Nico and Thalia manage to heal the rift between them, before it's too late?


I slowly got out of my cabin, blinking the sleep from my eyes. Then I noticed a group of people surrounding someone, so I went over to see what the commotion was all about.  
The campers parted to give me room, and I saw someone I definitely did not want to see. In fact, the last person I wanted to see. Thalia. Look! Thalia quit the Hunters! Annabeth said, tugging on my arm. I jerked my arm roughly out of her grasp, and she looked at me with a mixture of hurt and confusion. I need to go, I sad curtly, but it was too late. She d already spotted me. Immediately, we glared at each other. The excited talking quieted down as they noticed the tension, and slowly started backing away from us. Why d you come here? I said, and I heard someone gasp. Got a problem with that, Corpse Breath? Thalia said, lifting her chin. I narrowed my eyes even further, and our glares intensified, until a few campers ran away from fright. We-e-ell, I said, tauntingly, I think I do. For an instant, I saw something flicker in her eyes, but it was gone. Get the hell away, Dead Boy, or I ll make you. Thalia snarled, one hand on her spear. Try me. I shadowtraveled away an instant before the 1,000-volt lightning struck the ground where I had been. Catch me if you can, I said softly, mockingly, just behind Thalia. The air charged of static and sparks, and the ground rumbled threatingly as we both fought to keep ourselves under control. Finally, after several minutes of glaring, she said, I hate you, di Angelo. Go to Tartarus. And she walked away, leaving a group of stunned demigods. Nico? What happened? Percy asked, a worried look on his face, approaching me. I stood there, keeping an angry look on my face, while all the time I was fighting pain, and hurt. Then I angrily shoved it away, locking it down. What do you think? I whispered coldly, and walked away.

I sat, fuming with anger in my cabin. I hate him! He destroyed my life! I thought, as lightning crackled and sparked everywhere around me. I flopped down on the bed, and meditated. A talent I had learned from the Hunters. And now I would never go there again. I had quit the Hunters because I needed time to think by myself, to be alone with my thoughts. But in the Hunters, I always had to be there for everybody, and I always had something to do, a never ending task. Just my luck Nico had to be in Camp Half-Blood right when I arrived here. After all we had been through together, it seems ironic we became enemies. I was the one who had rescued him, I fought the second Titan War and the second Giants war, and we are enemies. Torrents of emotions poured through me, and I realized my mistake. Curling up into a ball, I concentrated hard on keeping those emotions under lock and key. It won t happen again. I felt my face harden, and I intend to keep it that way. The next day, the tension at breakfast was unbearable. Campers seemed to have heard of our standoff yesterday, and the were probably waiting to see what happened. The minute I stepped inside the Big House, conversation levels dropped drastically. Knowing why, I slowly let my eyes travel over the tables coolly, and came eye to eye with the diablo himself. His eyes were soft for an instant before instantly hardening into a cold, icy gaze. I frostily ignored him, going past him to my empty table. Sitting down, I looked at my plate, suddenly no longer hungry. But there was a cupcake, salad, few chunks of brownies and fillets of fish. I felt a lump in my throat as I looked at this. We had eaten this very food before we became enemies. I slowly managed to get down a few bites of salad, before I got up and left the room, noticing Nico was already gone. I didn t see him anywhere, and I only caught sight of him at luch and dinner. At lunch, the silence was deadly, and it came down on me into a thick, choking, suffocating silence, and I went out with only having drank a mouthful of water. Dinner was terrible. The tension rose to astronomic levels, and the air crackled with static and sparks, while the lights dimmed and the room seemed darker than usual. I ran out without eating anything.

I sat in the darkest corner of my cabin, which was pretty much everywhere. Locking the door, and making sure nobody bothered me, I sent a skeleton to guard the entrance. Kneeling quietly by the side of my bed, I reached under the mattress, and pulled out a box. A lump seemed to get stuck in my neck, and I struggled against it, fingers clenched around the box. Nico di Angelo doesn t cry. I slowly opened the lid, and pulled out one item after another. A silver chain armlet, a skull ring, and. . . . an envelope. Taking out the envelope, I took out a couple of pictures. One picture was of Thalia leaning against her tree, eyes closed and smiling. Another was of the four of us, Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and me. Another held a shot of me and Thalia together, holding hands. We were sparring in another. And one was of Thalia trying to teach me on archery, and I had this really strange look in my face, a cross between being nervous, laughter, slight fear, and awkwardness. I looked at the pictures, hands shaking now. I couldn t take it anymore. It was too much. I can t do it. I... miss her too much. I missed the times we were friends, carefree and laughing, the courageous, bold punk and me, the dark, withdrawn emo. I even wonder how us, two complete opposites, even got to be friends. And now, we weren t. Hot, black anger surged up in me, and I stuffed them back in the box, and threw it as far away from me as I could in the cabin. It hit the opposite wall with a dull sound, and fell to the floor on its side, lid partly open. I then curled up to a ball, the tears now running down my face as I cried for the first time. (Third Person POV Flashback) Nico! Thalia ran up to Nico, who was watching with horror. Thals... He whispered, almost in a trance. Nico, I m sorry, Thalia said, hugging him tightly, but Nico pushed her away, a blank look on his face. Don t touch me. He whispered, pain evident in his voice. Thalia took another step forward, eyes beseeching. GO AWAY! I HATE YOU! Nico shouted, tears in his eyes as he glared at Thalia, and ran away, disappearing into the shadows of the forest. Nico! Thalia called again, running after him, but he was already gone. She called his name over and over again, but there was no answer. Choking back a sob, she turned around to hear Lady Artemis calling her. Thalia, we are going to go on another hunt. We need to go. Thalia followed, composing herself, but anyone who had been looking closely would have seen the solitary tear rolling down her cheek, but Nico didn t know.

Thalia! Thalia! Open the door! Annabeth shouted. One week had passed since I ran out of the Big House and locked myself in my own cabin. No food for seven days, but I didn t care. I never wanted to go out again, face the silence, and pretend to hate Nico when I knew I didn t. Nico. The only person that had been on my mind during the entire time I was with the Hunters. I hadn t even thought of Jason that much. And I tried to make amends, to patch things up. I even quit the Hunters, which made Zeus and Artemis pretty angry, for different reasons. Artemis because I had quit the hunt for a boy, and Zeus because of who the boy was. But now, I can t even talk to him. Thalia! You need something to eat! I mean, you ll die if you don t! Annabeth said again. Maybe I don t want to. I said without thinking. I heard Annabeth gasp, and the pounding on the door stopped for a moment, before resuming, more urgently. I looked out of a window that showed the cabins, where I could see Annabeth but nobody could see me. Kind of like those black tinted windows. I could see Annabeth desperately trying to open the door, bt of course it wouldn t work. Then I saw something that made my blood freeze cold. Nico was walking away from the cabins, unseen to anyone. I saw him look back, at my cabin, and there was a small, sad smile on his face before he started walking again. He was holding his Stygian sword in his hand. No. He couldn t be... A terrible thought flashed in my mind, and I ran for the entrance, pausing when dizziness swept through me. Gritting my teeth, I steadied myself, and threw open the door, knocking aside a very surprised daughter of Athena. Thalia.. what She started to say, but I ran past her, to the retreating black speck in the distance, in the shadows of the forest, where he had ran into so many years ago. I then saw the flash of light on metal. Nico! I screamed, running towards him. Percy was the closest to him. Percy! I yelled, and he looked puzzled for an instant before he caught sight of where I was looking, and his eyes widened, and he started running. I stumbled, and Annabeth, who had been running behind me, caught me. What happened? She asked, counfused. I got up and took off again, and Annabeth soon saw where I was headed. I put on speed, cursing my suddenly spinning head and the empty feeling in my body. I was slow. Too slow. Percy barely got there before the son of Hades collapsed, falling into Percy s arms.

No! I screamed, finally reaching Percy, who was trying to stop the blood pouring out. Annabeth called out to the Apollo campers, and they came running. Percy put Nico down, so he was in a more comfortable position. Nico, I murmured, kneeling beside him, cradling his head. His eyes opened, and I looked into those dark eyes, filled with so much pain and sorrow. Thalia... He started to say, Annabeth and Percy holding the wound shut with their hands, which were getting bloody quickly. I m sorry. Now shut up and live. I croaked out past the tears streaming down my face. Nico smiled, saying Glad you re back, Thals. I... I was a jerk. Am a jerk. Don t talk in past tense. I scolded, cupping his face. I can t take it, being angry with you. He said, and continued, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. I ll try to survive this wound. And we were surrounded by Apollo campers, and soon, I blacked out.

A white light filled my vision, and I squinted uncertainly at the light. Where was I? Not the Underworld. I could sense that clearly. In Olympus, boy. I was standing in a white room, with two Olympians looking down on me. Both filled with anger. Uh-oh, I thought. Nico, it has come to my attention that my daughter quit the Hunters for you. Zeus said, a disapproving look while Artemis glared at me before flashing out. Um.. I said, unsure of what to say. Yet I find that you continued to ignore her, making her hurt and despair. For that, I should blast you into dust, but your father thinks I should give you a second chance. If this happens one more time, then I will personally send you to Tartarus, regardless of your father s wishes. I gulped. I had been dragged to Tartarus by the giants in the Giant War, and I did not need a repeat. I blinked, and the scene changed so upruptly from the white room to the Big House, that it was disorientating. Wha I started to say, and remembered. The wound. Blood. And Thalia. As if my thoughts had called her up, Thalia was instantly beside me. Nico! She cried out, and I turned my head to look at her, eyes red from crying, shimmering with relief. You re awake! Annabeth and Percy said, and I sat up, wincing lightly. Guess I survived it. I tried joking, and Thalia stared at me, before she punched me in the shoulder. I fell back against the pillows, and Annabeth tensed, probably waiting for us to fight. Ow.. I muttered, rubbing my shoulder. But Thalia wasn t done. You little prat! She snarled, and I winced. Do you know how much I was worried? She then smacked me again, and I felt little jolts of lightning shoot through me. Thalia! Annabeth said again, and Thalia turned to look at her, then back at me again. I laughed, causing the two girls to look at me with surprise. Thank Zeus for that, I said, smirking. I then looked at Thalia, who had a strange expression on her face. Don t do that again. Thalia snapped, and I said, Okay. Then she suddenly flung her arms around me, and whispered in my ear Death Boy, I ve missed you. I couldn t reply, so I just kissed her, Annabeth watching with relief in her eyes. We re not going to be apart, ever again. I said, and Thalia grinned.

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**So sorry for all the'#'s! My computer keeps getting weird glitches, so I'll try to erase all the sharps. Sorry for the inconvenience!**

** _~~Thalico Annabeth Jackson_**


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